Getting Closer

Here we are 7 weeks from the 1year anniversary of the fire and the house is still unfinished.  While we have come a along way, we still have a lot to do.  In my last blog, I talked about how the insurance company made an error on the check and we had to get it reissued.  After we got that problem solved, we had issues with the first and second mortgage companies having a pissing contest as to who was going to release the funds to us to get the work completed.    By the time all of this was settled, it was mid February, less than 5 months from the 1 year anniversary.  If we were to have a contractor do the work, 5 months is not nearly enough time to completely gut the inside of a house and replace everything from the studs. This is what we were told.  There was no one who would even take the job, so that left Mike to do the work, which is what he wanted to do anyway, but it would have been nice to have options especially since the mortgage company prefers a contractor doing it.  As this point, Mike had no choice but to do the work himself.  We are now in crunch time.  Yes, we have a deadline.  We have to have the house finished by the 1year anniversary or we not only forfeit payment on any supplemental work that is found but we also lose a pretty hefty betterment….and I do mean hefty.  The mortgage company released the first portion of the funds, 1/3 to be exact, in mid February and when those funds were exhausted, required an inspection by an outside party to make sure that the work is getting done.  Now, here’s the kicker….they wanted us to be at least 50% done….with only 1/3 of the money released.  Yeah, mortgage companies are not great mathematicians apparently.  Scary, huh?  What we believe is the issue here is that they figure the sub-contractors get paid a little later.  Still, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.  Anyway, the inspector came out and determined that we are in fact, 60% complete.  YAY!  Well sort of.  Unfortunately, the mortgage company, who originally told Mike that checks are released 24 hours after they receive the inspection, decided to change up the rules a bit and now it takes a week.  That’s a week that we really don’t have when we are on this kind of a time frame. So Mike is finishing up what can be finished and because he is spending so much time doing the actual work on the house, very little time is left where the two of us can get together and choose flooring, cabinets, etc.  We were able to choose the hardwood floor together and the paint, and that’s it.  The large items, tile, cabinets, appliances, etc, I had to go out and figure out what I liked and then get Mike’s opinion on them.  Thankfully, I did pretty well and he liked what I picked.  I have to say that I was a little worried about it because I have been finding that our tastes are a bit different and we had to compromise on the hardwood floors.  Thankfully, it worked out.  The thing is, we have to have all of the large items chosen because once that check gets here we have to immediately order them because they take time to get in.  With only 7 weeks to finish, waiting for a check, and the flooring taking 1 week to get in, the cabinets take 2 weeks and then the granite countertops take another week on top of that (after we figure out the cabinets), I’m sure that you can see why I am starting to get panicked.  Mike has done a tremendous job getting this far this fast and if we were to have a general contractor, one that waits for the subs to be finished with other work before coming to our house, then we definitely would not be as far as we are.  Mike has made sure that if a sub contractor can’t come out when we need them, he finds someone else to do the work.  Last night I was shopping for granite, fixtures, and other odds and ends that we really can’t afford to not have picked out at this point.  It’s a good thing we were able to choose the larger items quite quickly because last nights trip was not nearly as positive.  I have to believe that it’s because I haven’t found the perfect fit yet, if I don’t believe that, then I will begin to panic full force and I really don’t want to do that.  I can’t afford to do that.  I do know that it will work out and the house will look fabulous when all is said and done and hopefully we will have the betterment money in our pockets at the end of this journey.